> I'm trying to convert a site ( laid out with tables and using points and
> pixels for font-sizing ) into full Web Standards.
>
> The old home page is at http://www.weedsbluemountains.org.au/index.htm
> This uses tables and absolute font sizes.
>
> The rebuilt home page is at http://www.weedsbluemountains.org.au/default.htm
> This uses CSS for layout and relative font sizes.
>
> I'm very pleased with the conversion which displays perfectly in IE6, Firefox
> 0.8 and Opera 7.23 on Windows as well as (reportedly) in both Safari and
> Internet Explorer on a Mac. Picture my horror, though, when the site's author
> reported not being able to read the main navigation menu, a side menu on
> another upgraded page and image captions on that other upgraded page, all
> because the font-size was far too small.
>
> I'd set the general style sheet's body font-size to 76% and used various
> relative font-sizes to style individual text. Why does it work on every
> browser I can find except the author's ???
>
> Now I've had to reinstate the old non-standards home page so its author can
> read the main menu. Under the new design, she had to re-set her IE browser on
> an Emac to 120% before she could read it !!
>
> Seeking an answer I found on The Noodle Incident the following exposition of
> browsers delivering various font-size settings. I guess it's familiar to CSS
> gurus:
> http://www.thenoodleincident.com/tutorials/box_lesson/font/browser.html
>
> I simply cound not find any solution there to satisfy the need to set a
> suitable font-size for the main menu that would display adequately on the
> author's Emac.
>
> I've been reading the transcripts of Web Essentials 04 and after going through
> Bruce Maguire's presentation, I'm even more desperate to get the site to W3C
> accessibility level 1 - it MUST use relative not absolute font-sizing, right
> ?!!
>
> Now to the crunch line - I happened to use the Australian Business Register
> web site this morning http://www.abr.gov.au and thought I'd check out its
> stylesheet - no stylesheet on the home page, but a JavaScript browser sniffer.
>
> Then I went to the help page
> http://www.help.abr.gov.au/default.asp?usertype=BC and looked for its
> stylesheet http://www.help.abr.gov.au/css/ABRHelp.css where every size is
> absolute - either points or pixels- and tables for layout.
>
> I thought Australian Government sites were supposed to observe Web
> Accessibility standards - or have I got it all wrong?
>
> I'm still trying to find a way to re-code my upgraded page
> http://www.weedsbluemountains.org.au/default.htm to display adequately in its
> author's browser. Looks like we'll have to truncate the main navigation menu
> to do it.
>
> Perhaps someone out there has a solution to this font-sizing hell I've entered
> by "upgrading" the site. The author also reports the same problem on a
> Macromedia site she visited. The author is using an appropriate IE for her
> Emac.
>
> Thanks to the many on this list whose experience has proved invaluable to me
> in the past 12 months.
>
> Best regards
>
> John Penlington
>
>
I've been doing this lately, and it seems to work quite consistently across
browsers and platforms.
body {font-size: 62.5%;} Sets base font size to 10px (because 62.5% of 16px
[default browser font size] = 10px)
Then, I do this for example,
#content {font-size: 1.3em;} Sets base font size for Content Div to 13px
(because 1.3 x 10=13)
Now 1.3em=13px, 1.7em=17px -- very easy to "see" exactly what the font size
is in pixels, while retaining relative sizing.
Just be careful about inheriting font sizes if you put a font in a container
that has a "master" font size other than 62.5%.
Regards,
Kenneth Feldman
--
KPFdigital.com
Web Design & Hosting Made Easy
http://www.KPFdigital.com
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